Month: March 2012

Note: The following came to Solitary Watch in a letter from Gordon Davis, who is doing time in Pennsylvania’s SCI Somerset. He describes his situation as “Currently serving 600 days in the RHU (Restricted Housing Unit) for an assault on an inmate in general population.” I sit in solitude alone in my cell, with thoughts of freedom running wild […]

After we published Sal Rodriguez’s comprehensive FAQ on solitary confinement, readers asked for a shortened version that they could easily print out, photocopy, and distribute. That version is now available as a four-page PDF. Click here to download: Solitary Confinement FAQ (short version). Or go to the FAQ tab, above, for a permanent link to the PDF.

Five years ago, the Boston Globe did a comprehensive exposé on what it called the “Prison Suicide Crisis” in Massachusetts. The Globe found that prisoners in the state were taking their own lives at a rate three times the national average–and that “most of the deaths came after careless errors and deadly decisions by Department of Correction officials […]

When it comes to the psychological effects of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, there are three acknowledged experts: Drs. Stuart Grassian, Craig Haney, and Terry Kupers. The three have collaborated on a joint statement on the closure of Tamms supermax prison, which was proposed last month by Illinois governor Pat Quinn. The statement is directed […]

City Limits has comprehensive coverage of the ongoing rise in solitary confinement on Rikers Island (which we wrote about here back in November). The article begins: Over the last two years, the Department of Correction has nearly doubled the number of “punitive segregation” cells—the Department’s term for solitary confinement—at the jail facilities at Rikers Island. The […]

In response to reforms recently outlined by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) regarding gang validation, a group of prisoners held in Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit (SHU) submitted a “counter proposal” to prison activists. Asserting that the CDCR “is asking law makers and taxpayers to allow them to continue to violate […]

The issue of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has lately received prominent coverage in the New York Times. First, a front page article ran on March 10 with the (somewhat overly optimistic) title “Prisons Rethink Isolation, Saving Money, Lives and Sanity.” The article touched on the troubled history and harmful effects of solitary confinement, and […]

Comparing their conditions to a “living coffin,” a group of lawyers for hundreds of California prisoners placed in long-term or indefinite solitary confinement petitioned the United Nations yesterday to intervene on their behalf. The petition, drawn up by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, names 22 main inmate petitioners and refers to hundreds more held in […]

Our amazing intern/reporter/researcher Sal Rodriguez, author of several fact sheets and articles on this site, has produced a new resource: Frequently Asked Questions on Solitary Confinement. Questions include: What is solitary confinement? How many people are held in solitary confinement? Who gets put in solitary confinement? What are conditions like in solitary confinement? How long do […]

Prison activists are holding a call-in day in support of eight inmates held in solitary confinement at Central Prison in North Carolina. According to their account: On December 16th, 15 prisoners working in the kitchens at Central Prison, in Raleigh, sat down on the job in protest of the hours, lack of gain time, and working […]

The Associated Press has reported that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is reforming its policies regarding the controversial Security Housing Units (SHUs), where thousands of inmates are held in solitary confinement for an average of 6.8 years. According to the AP: Gang members would no longer have to renounce their gang membership. […]